The present invention relates to a foldable telephone having a body portion for mounting electronically operable parts and a flip member for covering the body portion, and more particularly to a hinge apparatus for connecting the flip member with the body portion in a foldable telephone.
In a foldable telephone, such as a handphone, the housing generally includes a body portion for mounting electronically operable parts and a flip member for covering and protecting the body portion. Such a foldable telephone requires a hinge apparatus for connecting the flip member with the body portion, and for allowing the flip member to pivot to a position necessary for telephone operation. Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 93-701025 discloses such a hinge mechanism.
The hinge mechanism of such conventional foldable telephones typically has a cylindrical shaft with a recess for cooperating with a follower. The shaft enables the flip member to pivot and the recess cooperates with the follower provided in the body portion so as to securely maintain the flip member in the operating position. Thus, the flip member may pivot between the operating position and the protecting position where the flip member covers the body portion and protects the switch buttons. The microphone is mounted below the front surface of the body portion, or in the flip member. With such conventional art, however, the follower often moves linearly via a spring and has side surfaces that interfere with side surfaces of the flip member, thereby resulting in an unbalanced pivoting of the flip member.
A more recent effort to develop a hinge mechanism for a foldable telephone is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,273 entitled Portable Telephone And Multifunctional Protective Housing Therefor issued to Takagi et al. on 2 Aug. 1994. In Takagi et al. '273, U-shaped springs are utilized to press a cover of the telephone against the telephone body based on angular plate portions of rotational shafts. While this type of conventional art provides a modicum of improvement over earlier art in that it does not require a locking mechanism to maintain the cover in a closed position, I believe that conventional art, such as Takagi et al. '273, can still be improved upon.